Alexander Andreyevich Baranov

Alexander Andreyevich Baranov (1747-16 April 1819) was Governor of Russian America from 9 July 1799 to 11 January 1818, preceding Ludwig von Hagemeister.

Biography
Alexander Andreyevich Baranov was born in Kargopol, Saint Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire in 1747. After he married and a daughter was born, he moved with his family to Siberia for its frontier opportunities, and he became a trader and tax collector in Irkutsk. However, due to business reverses that left him bankrupt, he decided to travel to Russian America (Alaska) to work as a trader. In 1790, he became the manager of an outpost, and, in 1799, he became Chief Manager, a position equivalent to Governor. He founded Pavlovskaya (Kodiak) and Novo-Archangelsk (Sitka), and he oversaw the expansion of the fur trade with the natives. Baranov continued to support his wife and children, but he took an Aleut woman as a mistress and had three mixed-race children with her. After he received news that his wife in Russia had died, he remarried to his mistress and legitimized their children. In 1818, he was recalled to Russia, and he died at sea in the Sunda Strait in 1819 before he could return home.